


Sparkmarked

by Useless19



Series: MegOP Week [4]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: M/M, Pre-Series, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-01-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:35:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22173424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Useless19/pseuds/Useless19
Summary: "It would be so mucheasierif it were you."For MegOP week, Day 4: Soulmate AU
Relationships: Megatron/Optimus Prime, Megatron/Orion Pax
Series: MegOP Week [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1593355
Comments: 6
Kudos: 150
Collections: MegOP Week 2020





	Sparkmarked

_Orion offered his hand. Megatronus looked at him askance._

_"I am unmarked," Orion promised._

_With all the hesitance of a Kaonite gladiator — that is to say, none whatsoever — Megatronus took his servo in a crushing grip._

_Despite knowing that it was not to be, Orion saw his own disappointment reflected in Megatronus’s face when no bond flared to life._

_"You’re truthful that much then," Megatronus said. "Perhaps I can believe your claims of being sympathetic to our cause."_

* * *

Orion was humbled as he stood before the heart of Cybertron; the spark of Primus Himself. It was unreal, too immense for Orion to understand.

But he had to try.

"How…" Orion cleared his intake, trying to lend his voice strength in this hushed shrine. "How can I save Cybertron from this war?"

There was no answer in words. A _feeling_ drowned Orion. An impossibly vast sorrow. Tears streamed down Orion’s face as he tried to stand under the onslaught.

"I have to try," he choked out, "please."

Love. An unending well of love fell over him next. His knees buckled, hitting the floor of Primus’s spark chamber with a muffled _clang_.

Orion knew he was safe here. He could stop. He could rest. He could leave the war for the rest of the Autobots. He could leave Megatron to a warrior.

"Let me help," Orion begged.

The love didn’t diminish, but Orion found it became less suffocating. He raised his head to see a crack appear in the shimmering metal coating the god’s spark. Something tiny and glittering fell out.

Orion didn’t think, he scrambled up and lunged to catch it. Whatever Primus had seen fit to bestow upon him was precious.

It was only once his servos curled around the object that Orion recognised it, from long hours spent studying ancient religious artefacts. There had been no proper image captures either, just shaky hand-drawn sketches from bots who had caught the barest glimpse.

The Matrix of Leadership.

Love and sorrow entwined and Orion understood. He could take the Matrix and have a slim hope of saving Cybertron, but that would doom him to a lifetime of suffering. It was no easy burden.

However, Orion had come expecting there to be no answer. It didn’t matter how long the odds, he was willing to try.

He opened his chest plates and pressed the Matrix inside.

For a moment, it didn’t seem to fit. Then Orion’s spark chamber transformed, allowing the Matrix to slot perfectly into place. It didn’t stop there. He felt himself grow taller, felt his shoulders broaden and raise, felt an extra pair of wheels position themselves on his legs. And finally, a battle mask closed over his face.

The High Council had named him Orion Prime, but that was not who he was.

 _Optimus Prime_.

Part of Optimus’s right shoulder was still burning with new transformation. He twisted his arm, finding it difficult to see until the lighting and the angle lined up.

That —

It didn’t make sense.

The Decepticon brand scowled at him, black and shiny. But it wasn’t a brand, not in the true sense. Optimus touched it, confused.

Was this Primus’s way of telling him that the Decepticons were in the right? Optimus couldn’t believe that; they’d been responsible for far too much slaughter.

It was odd. Orion’s paint hadn’t incorporated any black and Optimus’s had followed suit. If you looked at it one way it almost looked like a —

No.

It couldn’t be.

Orion didn’t have a sparkmark, so why would Optimus? It must have been a mistake.

 _No_. He would not lie to himself, not here in Primus’s light. Optimus had a sparkmark — he had a _sparkmate_. He was a different mech now, this was just further proof on top of his frame overhaul.

Optimus had a sparkmate and he already knew who it was.

This could change _everything_.

* * *

_"I wish it were you," Megatronus said, tracing the sparkmark in the middle of his chest, right above his spark._

_Orion had always found it an intimidating image, but now, curled up against Megatronus's side after several heady rounds of interface, it was comforting and familiar._

_"Take comfort in the fact that there is another mech even more suited to you," Orion said._

_"Now that is impossible." Megatronus pulled Orion closer._

_Orion was not a mech prone to jealousy, but to think he might have to give this up when Megatronus finally found his sparkmate… He snuggled tighter, committing the sensation to memory._

_He would step aside if a sparkmate appeared, until then he could take comfort in Megatronus’s warm arms._

* * *

The main bulk of the Decepticon forces were still operating out of Kaon — Darkmount had been recently abandoned after a successful Autobot attack. Optimus was able to pass by the fringes of the army without difficulty. He looked just distinct enough from Orion that anyone unfamiliar with him wouldn't be able to put two and two together.

The Decepticon mark on his shoulder helped too.

He reached the inner ring of the encampment. Decepticon high command was likely to be here somewhere. Optimus tried to surreptitiously look around without appearing to be lost.

A clawed servo landed on Optimus's shoulder, tips digging in hard enough to scratch his paint.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Starscream sneered. "You look like an Autobot with those colours."

That was rich, coming from him and his gaudy paint job.

"I am here to see Megatron," Optimus said.

" _Lord_ Megatron, how many times do I have to tell you idiotic grounders to show some respect?" Starscream snapped. "Tell me. I'm second in command and have the authority to decide if it's worth bothering our leader with."

"The information is classified," Optimus tried. "For Meg— Lord Megatron's optics only."

"Please, I've seen far better attempts at… at…" Starscream trailed off, optics going wide. He huffed a laugh. "Oh, this'll be good."

Ah, he'd caught sight of Optimus's sparkmark.

Starscream gestured for Optimus to follow him and started weaving through the camp.

"You've got the colours right, unlike most of them," Starscream said, tone light, but there was a vicious glee in his twitching wings that even a mech as unfamiliar with fliers as Optimus could read. "I wonder if that will make him deactivate you faster or if he'll take his time."

Optimus stayed quiet. Starscream eventually got sick of prodding him for no reaction, but he never lost the spring in his step.

"Lord Megatron." Starscream swept into a low bow the second he entered the command room. "I beg a moment of your time."

"There is no need to beg, Starscream," Megatron's voice was darkly amused. "What is it?"

"I found this… mech wandering the encampment," Starscream dragged Optimus forward, "and thought you might like the pleasure of dealing with him yourself."

"I have better things to do than mete out every last piece of discipline that you can't —" Megatron finally looked up from his screens and drew a sharp vent. "Orion?"

Part of Optimus that had been tense since his rebuild relaxed. He wasn't completely unrecognisable.

"I am Optimus now. Optimus Prime."

"Of course," Megatron spat bitterly. "And what are you doing here, _Prime?_ A religious title will not help you walk out of here alive."

"He's really —?" Starscream stared at Optimus in something close to horror. "But he can't be!"

"The Matrix of Leadership did more than reformat my frame," Optimus said, approaching until he stood across the table from Megatron. He tapped his pauldron. "I have a sparkmark."

Fury filled Megatron's faceplates. He threw the table aside with a roar and launched himself at Optimus.

A strange instinct took ahold of Optimus and he braced himself so that when Megatron hit the damage was minimised. Megatron slammed him against the wall — a move that could have crippled Orion Pax. Optimus was grateful for the extra armour the Matrix had bestowed upon him.

"You _dare_ ," Megatron snarled, close enough that Optimus could see the reflection of his blue optics on Megatron's helm. "You _dare to mock me?!_ "

"I do not," Optimus said, but he could already feel that Megatron had deduced that much, the sparkbond having ignited the second Megatron touched Optimus.

It flooded through them, an overwhelming torrent of _other_. Ripping them down to bare components and rebuilding them entwined. Optimus could see the surprise and fury still on Megatron’s face, but he could also _feel_ the hope and love Megatron refused to let show.

Optimus's shoulder was burning again, his sparkmark gaining colour as the bond completed. Megatron's mark was turning red beneath the patchy purple paint he'd slapped over it.

"Do you think this is enough to stop the war?" Megatron asked, pulling the thought from Optimus’s processor. "That I will lay down my arms and give up my cause because a Prime has deigned to lower himself to take me for a sparkmate?"

"I think it is enough for us to try to talk again," Optimus said. "For us to reassess the damage we have done. Our planet is _dying_ , Megatron."

"Perhaps it deserves to." Yet Megatron’s claws had gentled their hold.

"Do you truly believe a mass exodus is all that awaits us?" Optimus pushed. "That exile would be best for the Decepticons?"

"I will not leave Cybertron under Autobot control." Megatron stepped back. He felt exhausted over the sparkbond; Optimus wondered how long he’d been on limited rations. "But there will not be a Cybertron soon, everyone knows that."

"Not if I can help it," Optimus said. "Primus yet lives and we can help Him thrive once more. However, I cannot do it alone and I certainly cannot do it while I have to fight a war against my sparkmate."

He clumsily took every last scrap of love he held for Megatron and pressed it to the fresh bond. Megatron flinched and shut his optics. A second later, _determination_ spilt back.

"I have non-negotiable demands." Megatron picked up a dataslate that had been knocked to the floor from his table-flipping stunt. "Starting with the Allsp—"

"Lord Megatron! You can’t be serious!" Starscream scrambled out of the corner he’d been cowering in. "Tell me you can’t be considering surrender over this… this _pretender!_ "

"Silence, Starscream," Megatron growled. "Was it not you who recently said that the last of our energon mines have run dry?"

"Yes, but I meant that we should _raid_ the Autobots, not — not _make peace_ with them!"

There was no chance that Megatron missed the swell of hope from Optimus's spark at the thought of _peace_.

"You're going to make this _difficult_ , aren't you, Optimus?" Megatron sighed.

"As if you would be satisfied with so little challenge," Optimus replied, confident in the glowing warmth of the sparkbond.

Megatron laughed. This may not have been the answer Optimus had expected when delving into Cybertron's core, but it was the one he hadn’t known he wanted.

* * *

_"I see you’ve decided on a symbol for your movement," Orion noted._

_"You dislike it?" Megatronus — no, he was going by_ Megatron _now, Orion needed to remember that — asked, with just enough of an edge to his voice that Orion stopped to reword what he’d been about to say._

_"No. I think few mechs would have given such a personal part of themselves to their cause," Orion said. "It says great things."_

_"That’s certainly the spin the recruiters have put on it," Megatron said, amused. "I’ll admit — to you and you alone — that my motivations are not so pure. Yes, I have given this part of myself to the cause, but only because it doesn’t mean anything to me. I do not have a sparkmate, or if I do they want nothing to do with me. I have my cause, I have Soundwave, and I have_ you _, Orion Pax. I do not need an unfulfilled bond holding me back."_

_"I will be here, in whatever capacity I can," Orion promised._

_Megatron tipped Orion’s head back and smiled sadly. "It would be so much_ easier _if it were you, Orion."_

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi over at [transformersvn.tumblr.com](https://transformersvn.tumblr.com) where I make Transformers visual novels.


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